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Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Vikings & Valkyries, Session 2

I am quite late with this session report; I am remembering less and less details about this fine session, hence the brief report (the actual game was about eight hours long, including having a pizza, non-game-related talks, and such).

(For some information on the NPCs, check the previous session report.)

After defeating Guldnar the dragon, our heroes returned to the Jarl's court, where they held a feast for their victory. It was mostly about Skjaldulf's bragging about how he slew the dragon and cut off its head (a trophy since sitting there in the Jarl's hall) and Harald's sucking up to Jarl Olaf.

Not everyone seemed so joyful, though: Amundr, whose sword Harald stole the day before, and his companions suspected the thief was sitting there with them. They finally accused a man named Skurr, and only Jarl Olaf's intervention stopped the scene turning into bloodbath; he ruled the gods should decide upon who spoke truth for Amundr's man and Skurr would engage in a duel the following dawn.

(Referee's note: Even the gods would not be awake at such a bloody hour, thought some commoners, which naturally resulted in the players' devising an intricate plan, definitely worthy of XP if followed through: (1) a giant alarm clock needs to be built, possibly with the help of a dwarf; (2) then, the clock needs to be carried over Bifrost to Asgard so that the gods could wake up early in the morning and sit in judgement on mortals. They discarded the idea for they suspected the gods' divine wrath in return, most likely in the form of a future in which each mortal's sweet sleeping time is controlled by similar devilish devices.)

A new, albeit not organised, faction revealed itself: a group of young people who despises Varghöss and his kind and would rather Jarl Olaf did not seek peace with them, let alone willingly pass on his power and wealth to their descendants by arranging a marriage between Ingrid and Varghöss. The party seemed reluctant to clearly align themselves with this group, despite the fact that their dislike for Varghöss and his men was mutual.

(Referee's note: This group actually didn't exist until this session; I thought I needed to throw some more NPCs into the mix, leading to the appearance of Skurr and his fellows.)

The party talked to Fridha about what to do; unfortunately, someone was eavesdropping, who turned out to be Fridha's daughter, Ingrid. She threatened the party with revealing their secret unless they make sure she will not have to marry Varghöss.

Next morning, Skurr and Amundr's man duelled; for all spectators, it appeared as if Skurr had killed his enemy with a single slash of the sword - unknown to everyone, it was Jormund finishing the job with his Psychic Attack. Varghöss postponed the wedding until the sword of Amundr (a precious heirloom) is found, and with all his men they left the settlement.

Referee's note: It was decided in the previous session that the Sorcerer's powers need no acoustic or motional components, thus using them in a crowd would never reveal the Sorcerer.

Helvi's behaviour seemed odd to most of her family members; Jarl Olaf asked Harald and Jormund to look after his daughters. During this time, Jormund saw Helvi leaving for the beach where a huge rock (like a monolith) sits, and come back only after an hour or so; also, Ingrid insisted the party do something about her marriage with Varghöss (postponed for now but not forever). Later, Jormund discovered that cursed runes were inscribed onto the monolith; he spent much time and effort making sure the hex would not work and that there was not enough space to start over.

The party then planted the stolen sword of Amundr in the room Varghöss used to sleep in, attempting to frame him. The sword was soon discovered by the recently arrived friend of Jarl Olaf, Gottfried Flogasson (a player arriving late).

After some time, the party convinced Jarl Olaf that her daughter Helvi was up to something wicked, so Olaf sent Amundr with Jormund to check the monolith. He was not convinced at first (he is a suspicious soul, and comes across as a real jerk towards the party) but could not risk the consequences if it would have turned out to be true, so both Amundr and Jarl Olaf gave some men to the party to find Helvi and bring her back, before it was too late.

Long story short, the party went to the witch's cave, found the witch in Helvi's clothes, killed her, searched the place, then left - and that was where we left.